‘Gotham’ Season 2 Spoilers: Theo Galavan Returns With A Vengeance In Episode 19 [RECAP]

Jim Gordon and Bruce Wayne are on the cusp of bringing the man behind the murder of Bruce’s parents to justice on “Gotham” Season 2. Unfortunately for them, the city continues to descend into chaos. A villain from the past has re-emerged in a different form in episode 19, titled “Azrael,” and he promises to destroy everything in his path to kill Gordon.

Episode 19 begins with Theo Galavan (James Frain) going crazy in Hugo Strange’s (BD Wong) facility. He’s writing words from sacred texts from the Order of St. Dumas on the walls in blood. Strange says the words are the only things his brain is processing as his body tries to remember who he is.

Jim Gordon (Ben McKenzie) arrives at Arkham to tell Strange he believes he has reopened Pinewood Farms and was the one who used the program to turn people into monsters. Gordon asks why he saw Victor Fries alive and gives Strange an envelope containing a “court order” to turn over the body of Fries. Strange says the body was cremated, which Gordon considers a lie. Gordon walks out and Strange finds out he didn’t really have a court order.

Thanks to a conversation with Edward Nygma (Cory Michael Smith), Strange gets the idea to give Theo a story that the revived criminal can use as an identity. He settles on the story of Azrael from the Order of St. Dumas texts, that he is a 12th century knight looking to rid the world of sin. Strange goes into Theo’s chamber and Theo attacks him. Just when it seems Theo will kill Strange, Strange convinces him that he is his father and that Theo is Azrael.

Gordon and Bullock (Donal Logue) go to Bruce (David Mazouz), who wants to know why Strange hasn’t been arrested. Gordon doesn’t believe they have enough evidence yet and they’ll have to convince Capt. Barnes (Michael Chiklis) for a warrant. Bruce wants Gordon to get justice the same way he did by killing Theo, but Gordon refuses to kill again and wants to do things the right way. He tells Bruce he can’t become the evil he’s trying to fight.

Strange shows Theo a video of Azrael to help him understand who he is and where he came from. Strange brings in the inmate Hellzinger (Stink Fisher) for Theo to kill with a new “sword of sin” he had made for Theo. Theo instead knocks him out with the case of the sword before discovering a sword is inside. Strange assigns Theo to go out and kill Gordon, while he prepares a suit of armor for his creation.

Gordon, Bruce and Bulllock pay Barnes a visit at a crime scene where four men have been killed. Barnes sees Gordon and is angry with him because he believes he’s responsible for breaking out Karen Jennings. Barnes goes to have Gordon escorted out, but Bruce intervenes and tells Barnes he needs to hear the truth. Gordon tells him everything that Strange has been up to and how he’s bringing dead people back to life.

Barnes thinks Gordon is insane until Theo shows up in the Azrael armor. Barnes and Gordon shoot at Theo as he tries to attack Gordon, but the bullets don’t break through the armor. Bullock shows up with more cops to help them and Theo is able to escape as Bruce watches.

Gordon tells Barnes that Hugo Strange is responsible but Barnes won’t accept that without facts. Barnes gets every officer available on the streets and to prevent Gordon from going he has him placed in a jail cell.

The power goes out at GCPD and Theo comes crashing into the building to get to Gordon. Theo tells Barnes to hand over Gordon and no one else gets hurt, but Barnes refuses. Gunfire breaks out and Theo kills many police officers. The guns Barnes and Gordon have aren’t getting through the armor so Barnes tries to lead Theo to the roof while Gordon finds a bigger gun.

Barnes and Theo fight on the roof and Barnes is able to break Theo’s sword with a pipe. He then knocks off Theo’s mask and is shocked to see that Theo is alive. Theo takes advantage of Barnes’ shock and stabs him with what’s left of the sword. Gordon arrives on the roof with a shotgun and can’t believe he’s seeing Theo. He fires several rounds at Theo and he falls off the roof and onto a van where he’s able to escape.

Gordon gets help for Barnes and he explains to Bullock that Theo is Azrael. News quickly spreads throughout Gotham City that Theo is alive and running around as the assassin. While Gordon walks away from the crime scene, Theo is shown on a bridge looking on.

Other Major Moments From Episode 19:

• While Nygma settles into Arkham Asylum, he starts plotting ways to get out of the facility. He knows Strange is up to something unusual and he’s able to break out of his cell thanks to help from other inmates. Nygma finds Strange’s Indian Hill facility, but it’s unclear what this discovery could mean for Nygma going forward.
• Penguin (Robin Lord Taylor) sees on the news that Theo is back and still alive. It appears as though Penguin will look to finish the job in the near future.
• Following the success with Theo, Strange wants to insert more personas into patients. The show then teases Batman villain Mad Hatter, who could appear in the near future.